Henri Boillot’s Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2002
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Henri Boillot in Corton-Charlemagne
Henri Boillot – 2002 Corton- Charlemagne – The very last of a Soaring White from a Soaring Vintage atop Burgundy’s most rarified hill
Henri Boillot is a man who is willing to do anything to make good wine every harvest no matter what la nature has hurled his way. There are not a lot of growers like that, but when you find them, you never let them go. You can’t blame the other guys, of course, money has way of inserting itself aggressively into the equation at times, but I think Henri Boillot would rather starve than put flawed grapes into his wine. He is a perfectionist above all.
“If readers are searching for a super-ripe, blockbuster Corton-Charlemagne, then Henri Boillot’s 2002 should be passed over. However, if elegance, precision, complexity, and detail are what they desire, then they will adore this nectar. Spices, minerals, and slate are found in its complex aromatics. Medium-bodied, fleshy, and revealing outstanding depth, this Corton-Charlemagne is the essence of crystalline purity. Loads of minerals and quartz are intermingled with spices in its deep, nuanced character. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2015.” Rated 92-95, Robert Parker
Now, what is this sublime thing called Corton- Charlemagne?
First of all Corton-Charlemagne is a Grand Cru . All Burgundy vineyards are ranked in a hierarchy based on potential (and historical) quality. The pyramid goes: Village, then Premier Cru and at the top, Grand Cru . This is one very steep pyramid.
The Grand Cru are only 2% of the wines produced in Burgundy and the Premier Cru are only another 12%. An, of the 35 or so Grand Cru vineyards in the Cote d’Or only 5 are white wine. Just 5.
Corton is one of those very few, very small vineyards that produces the very best white wines in the world. And Henri Boillot makes one of the very best of these.
“Corton-Charlemagne is the most dramatic Chardonnay in the world. It is not just a matter of fruit, with which Corton-Charlemagne is famously endowed, courtesy of an almost enchanted exposure on the hill of Corton. It’s also a matter of a gout de terroir so pronounced that only Grand Cru Chablis, Chevalier-Montrachet, and Le Montrachet can rival or exceed it. The combination makes for high drama in the glass.” Matt Kramer Making Sense of Burgundy
I was in Boillot’s cellar in Volnay on Thursday afternoon this week. It was a jaw- dropping experience because there you are happy as a clam rolling through the exquisite villages in Burgundy tasting delicious wine and then you take in a mouthful of Henri’s wine. It is immediately as luminously clear as that wine in your glass that you have risen to a whole other level of sensory flooding.
You stand around with a mouthful of his stuff and your amazement is written all over your face. It is magnificent juice. There is a cost to all of this (it’s expensive to be so picky with your grapes; you end up with a lot less to sell), but sometimes it’s worth it to step up and this is one of those times when you won’t regret it for even a second.
Boillot will become your special wine for the very special moments in your life. It is a wine that will make you stop and reflect on only very good things (one of them will definitely be the wine).
These are Burgundian whites on high. Gloria Hallelujah! Thank you Bacchus! and pass the pipette (the pipette is the glass contraption used to siphon the wine from the barrel if you want to taste it before it is in bottle).
Oh, and I should mention that this Corton is from the 2002 vintage which is one of the most extraordinary vintages to come along in the past ten years. Parker rates the vintage 92 on his vintage chart and looking back I don’t see anything as grand since 1995. I have tasted many, many 2002s and they are pure pleasure with the structure and concentration to be vins de gardes.
“It is clear that 2002 provided Burgundy’s vignerons with the opportunity to fashion great wines, in both red and white. ” Robert Parker The Wine Advocate
Thank you, Henri for creating the wines of a lifetime!